


Tell No One

by ProsperDemeter



Series: 20 Days of Holiday Fics [12]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Harley and Harry, I'm losing s t e a m, M/M, MJ is Peter's one braincell, Peter is a good friend, Terrible writing, They all work at Oscorp, but it's chill, it'll be fun I said, let's do 25 holiday fics I said, that's all this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28049013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProsperDemeter/pseuds/ProsperDemeter
Summary: “It’s not everyday someone like that takes the time to tear me to pieces.” Harley said over his worktable and with a devilish smirk.Peter snorted despite himself. “God you’re so his type too.”“Oh really, Parker?” His eyes lit up. “Care to set us up?”Peter’s hand jerked in a shiver. “If we survive this thing, sure. But…”“But?”“If you hurt him I will suspend you in a web over the Brooklyn Bridge by your pinky.”Harley whistled lowly. “Yikes, protective much, Parker?”“Oh very.”
Relationships: Harley Keener/Harry Osborn, Peter Parker & Harry Osborn, Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson
Series: 20 Days of Holiday Fics [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035498
Kudos: 30





	Tell No One

**Author's Note:**

> Day 12 :)

“Darlin’, do me a favor,” Harley spoke and Peter winced, hiding his face in the palm of his hand in clear distress. Oh the loveable idiot, he had no  _ idea _ what he was doing. “And stay out of my way in  _ my _ lab.” 

To be fair, tensions were running high in the lab. The Avengers were off-world and the temperature outside was dropping dramatically. The temperature  _ inside _ was dropping less dramatically but that was only for as long as the frost stayed out of the building. As it was, it was beginning to cling to the inside of the windows and start to tint the air and Peter, well Peter was starting to get cold and if  _ Peter _ got cold it was only a matter of time until everyone  _ else _ got cold. He wished he was out protecting the citizens but he wouldn’t have exactly been any help. If he got too cold his body would shut down, even  _ with _ the failsafes stitched into his suit meant to keep him warm. 

Not that the rapidly dropping temperature was an excuse for Harley’s untimely verbal demise that was about to occur but, well… it was a much better excuse as to why Peter didn’t get involved other than his fear of getting verbally decimated himself. It was the laugh that did it and Peter tensed for the upcoming slaughter that was about to occur. Typically, it was fun to watch Harry dismantle someone but Peter would be truly sorry to watch it happen to Harley of all people. “ _ Your _ lab?” 

Harley’s arms were crossed, creasing his shirt around the muscles in his arms and his goggles were pushed up atop his short cut blonde hair. “Yes,  _ my _ lab.” He repeated as though the question had been ridiculous. He shot a look at Peter over his shoulder, one that said  _ can you believe this guy _ and Peter shrugged helplessly. He  _ could _ believe this guy. He  _ did _ believe this guy. He  _ knew _ that guy. “Do you need it spelled out for you more clearly?” 

Peter also  _ knew _ that smile. It was colder than the air outside and  _ that _ was negative ten degrees and dropping by the second. He should pull them back on task - Harley was the best engineer they had and Harry was the owner of the only company nice enough to let vigilantes use their state-of-the-art laboratories to try to solve the problem. And Peter only had about… twenty more minutes until his body got too cold to function. He shivered violently and was relieved when Harry noticed. The coldness in his expression thawed, just a bit. “Get back to work Doctor Keener.” He dismissed quickly and painlessly and side stepped him without another glance. He leaned over the computer in front of Peter and typed in a series of code too fast for Peter to catch. Almost instantly, the heater in front of his seat started to increase how fast it went and the temperature it blew out. Peter relaxed and upped his calculations another forty minutes. “Better?” 

“Where’s it coming from?” Peter asked, spreading out his fingers to increase the blood flow. 

Harry didn’t answer. 

He didn’t have to. 

Peter knew it was coming from his office. Which meant that either Harry was now stuck in the laboratory  _ with _ them or, more likely, had decreased his own time to increase Peter’s. “You can’t order me around.” Harley, though, hadn’t picked up on the change. “What are you even doing at that computer, man? Messing with our formulas isn’t going to do anything but kill thousands of people - .” Harry spun on his heel and Peter winced, again. 

“Doctor Keener, if I were you I’d be a bit more concerned with the fact that your tools are starting to freeze up than what I’m doing to keep the greatest scientific mind of our time and our  _ only _ shot at surviving this thing awake.” 

“Excuse me, darlin’?” 

“You’re not excused. Get back to work, stop trying to assert your dominance and solve this issue or  _ so help me _ you will not have a job in any company across this galaxy.” 

“You have  _ no right _ -.”

“Mister Osborn?” An intern called over the intercom. “We need you asap in the security wing. The cameras have gone down in wings C and F.” 

Harry deemed them with one more frustrated and annoyed look and strided out, shoes clacking loudly on the tiles that painted the floor. Harley blinked, blinked again, and then pointed at where he had just stood. “Was that?” 

Peter pursed his lips and nodded. “Back to work?” 

“You could have warned me, you know.” 

He shrugged, pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders and hunched down farther into his seat. “We have about forty minutes until my body shuts down and then the office will go with it in another twenty.” 

“Greatest scientific mind.” Harley snorted, but grabbed his tools anyway, pulling his goggles down over his eyes. “Why does the boss have a hard on for you?”

“Disgusting.” Peter wrinkled his nose at the insinuation. “We’ve been friends since we were kids. He’s like my brother.” 

“So he’s single then?” 

“What?”

“It’s not everyday someone like  _ that _ takes the time to tear me to pieces.” Harley said over his worktable and with a devilish smirk. 

Peter snorted despite himself. “God you’re  _ so _ his type too.” 

“Oh really, Parker?” His eyes lit up. “Care to set us up?” 

Peter’s hand jerked in a shiver. “If we survive this thing, sure. But…” 

“But?”

“If you hurt him I  _ will _ suspend you in a web over the Brooklyn Bridge by your pinky.” 

Harley whistled lowly. “ _ Yikes _ , protective much, Parker?” 

“Oh  _ very _ .” 

\--

“Aren’t you adorable.” Harley leaned his hip against the doorway, and Peter debated throwing himself out of the window. 

Harry, for his part, shot him a severe, unimpressed look. He was, in fact,  _ not _ looking very adorable. He had soot on his face, for one, and his suit (that Peter  _ knew _ cost more than Peter’s rent) was torn in several places. The building had just survived an explosion in its chemical labs, one that Peter  _ hadn’t _ been the cause of thank you very much, but one that, he theorized, had been aimed at his best friend. He was busy looking over footage of the event but, so far, had come to no conclusion. “Is now  _ really _ the time, Ley?” He muttered into the keyboard. 

“Oh come on, he’s like a kicked puppy.” 

“I’ll kick you.” Harry went to take a step and then winced. Peter pushed him firmly back into his chair with a severe look. 

“You alright there, sugar?” 

“What are you, a walking southern stereotype?” Harry rubbed his forehead and shut his eyes. 

“Nah, darlin’, I’m your future husband.” 

“God.” Peter scoffed and earned himself an amused smile from his friend. “I have nothing.” He threw up his hands in annoyance. 

“Could it have just been an accident?” Harley asked for the tenth time. 

“No.” The two of them said at the same time. Harley’s hands flew up in surrender. 

“Well, who would want you dead?” 

“Who would want me  _ alive _ ?” Peter hit Harry at the question. “I’m just saying, my name doesn’t exactly bring the world  _ joy _ .” 

“Maybe trade it for a different one.” 

“Now is  _ not _ the time for the flirting.” Peter said through gritted teeth. 

Harley shrugged and Harry stood up. “I’m going to the bathroom.” 

“I’ll bring you home after.” Peter promised when his friend was at the door and took the backwards thumbs up shot at him for the reassurance it was. Harley was silent for a moment longer before rounding his way behind Harry’s desk to stand beside Peter. He knew what he was seeing, Harry was a private person but he allowed a few pieces of himself to be on display  _ for _ himself. He kept lists upon lists, kept tight, neat notes on post-its stuck to his drawers, and had a framed photo of him and his mother beside his computer. He worked hard, but his fear of turning into his father made him keep reminders of himself everywhere. 

Harley watched the same footage Peter had been, watched the two of them hunch over a table and look at a file spread across the surface. He watched nothing and no one cause a spark to fly, watched Peter’s head shoot up and watched as Peter’s arm shot out and pushed Harry back quickly but not quick enough to avoid the blast. “That spark.” Harley pointed at the footage. 

“I know.” 

“It doesn’t come from anywhere.” 

“I  _ know _ .” 

“Why would anyone want Harry dead?” 

Peter shot him a curious look. “You actually don’t know?” He shrugged as though it wasn’t a big deal. “Norman did a lot of bad things. Made a lot of shit decisions.” Peter explained as much as he could without revealing things about Harry that Harry didn’t want public knowledge. “And Harry wasn’t exactly… unaware of some of them.” 

“He did something so bad that people want him  _ dead _ ?” Harley asked again, more out of a morbid curiosity than anything else. And Peter couldn’t really say he blamed him - the Osborn family was primarily a private one and Peter only knew what he did because of his friendship with Harry. 

“ _ He _ is right here.” Peter pursed his lips - he should have been paying attention enough to hear Harry come back into the room but he had been too distracted by the way Harley kept compulsively cracking his knuckles. Harry looked better now, he had cleaned the soot off of his freckled cheeks, had tossed a bandaid over the cut on his forehead and the one on his jaw, and had swapped his contacts for his glasses. Typically he wouldn’t be caught  _ dead _ in those around people that weren’t what he considered family, no matter how irritated his eyes were. 

Curious. 

“And looking gorgeous as usual,” Harley countered without glancing up, still bent over the computer and zooming in on the spark. Perhaps he would notice something Peter didn’t, or perhaps, he would miss whatever happened as much as Peter’s enhanced senses. Either way, Peter had to get Harry home and he didn’t think it was safe enough for him to go on his own. 

“Yeah whatever,” Harry scoffed and glanced at Peter. “Can I go home?” 

“Right.” Peter nodded, grabbed his coat off of the hook and patted Harley twice on the back. “Let me know if you find anything?” 

Harley shot him a thumbs up, glanced over at the two of them and did a visible double take. He blinked, mouth open, before swallowing around whatever dryness had settled into his throat. “You wear glasses?” 

“All the better to ignore you without.” 

Peter couldn’t help the delirious laugh. “Har,  _ what _ ?” 

His friend shot him a dark look. Harley smiled serenely. “Did I catch you off guard,  _ Har _ ?” 

“Kindly fuck off, Doctor Keener.” 

“Ha!” Peter slapped a hand over his mouth and pushed Harry gently towards the door. Whatever Harley had to say back was muffled by the closed door but, unfortunately for Harry, whatever Peter had to say wasn’t so easily quieted. “You  _ like _ him.” 

“Peter Benjamin Parker.” 

“Harold Theopolis Osborn.” 

His friend’s shoulders dropped and his frustration bled from his shoulders. “ _ Please _ don’t tell anyone?” 

Peter’s arm landed heavy over Harry’s shoulders, in part because Peter was  _ always _ physically affectionate, and in another part because Harry looked ready to fall over. “I’ll only tell May.” 

“ _ Don’t _ tell May!” 

\--

The flirting came to a head at the company holiday party nearly a year later. Peter was fine with it, he was starting to get endless annoyed with the  _ will-they-won’t-they  _ situation. He had almost taken to betting  _ against _ them but if Harry ever found out about it he would have been incredibly insulted. Peter, instead, nursed a glass of eggnog and was thankful, not for the first time, that there were enough employees at Oscorp that Peter could hide from the two of them. 

That didn’t mean that he was lucky enough not to see them. 

Harley had taken to aggressively complimenting Harry and Peter was well aware that it was both working for and against him. If only he had asked Peter for advice, he would have instead told him that Harry responded best with direct action - stop complimenting him and just  _ ask _ him already. Harry came off frigid and cold but people were so rarely up front with him. He would have been caught off guard with the direct question and it would have been a  _ big _ point in Harley’s books. 

Instead, he wasn’t asking. He was  _ flirting _ . Peter was beginning to think that Harley only knew  _ how _ to flirt. 

It was disgusting.

He had never seen Harry blush more. 

Was that what it was like watching him and MJ? God, Peter would have to try to tone that down. “He still hasn’t asked yet?” Only how could he when MJ was so incredibly gorgeous? Her dress was long, sparkling, and the color of an evergreen tree. Her earrings were long, golden and dangling things and hair expertly braided and tossed over her shoulder. She was wearing the necklace Peter had gotten her back in Freshman year of college, a gold locket with a light blue inset stone in the center. He knew, inside of it, was a picture from their first date, and another one of his parent’s wedding day. He had thought it was corny but Harry had encouraged the picks. 

He had been right. MJ had loved it and cried when he had given it to her. 

Peter slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek gently enough not to smudge her makeup. “Still hasn’t asked yet.” 

“Poor Harry.” MJ observed as Harley said  _ something _ that had Harry dropping his face into his hand and nearly messing up his hair. Peter winced, he  _ knew _ exactly how long Harry had spent on his hair for this company event. “He should just ask Harley instead.” 

“Harry?” Peter snorted. “Admit he has feelings and deserves to be happy? Impossible.” 

“A terrible assumption of mine.” 

“Absolutely terrible.” Peter agreed. 

MJ tilted her head and watched the two of them more closely, though. Peter knew what she was seeing, the way Harley had subconsciously picked up on the fact that Harry didn’t drink and handed him a champagne schute of ginger ale. Or maybe she was watching the way their touches almost lingered on one another, softly on their hands or forearms or the gentle caress of Harry’s fingers over the swipe of Harley’s bangs. “Are you sure they’re not… already together?” She hummed. 

Peter shot her a sharp look. “What? No. Harry would have told me.” 

“ _ Would _ he?” MJ grabbed a sip of his drink. “When he knows Harley’s your friend too? Or isn’t he the type to keep quiet about a relationship until he’s  _ sure _ it’s going to go somewhere.” 

She was right. 

Harry had told Peter only  _ once _ when he was in a relationship with someone. That relationship hadn’t ended well. 

Peter looked at them and tried to imagine it. Harley always kept himself suspiciously close to Harry’s body, his arm positioned on the table behind him so that he was almost holding onto Harry’s waist. Harry, for his part, wasn’t shoving him away but leaning in, the smile on his face small and real as he said something back to whatever joke Harley had just cracked. He looked happy, they both looked happy. Peter sucked in a deep breath and pulled MJ in closer. “He’ll tell me when he’s ready.” 

“That’s my boy.” MJ’s lips were soft on his own. “Want to go see how uncomfortable we can make the new couple?” 

“That’s  _ my _ girl.” 


End file.
